China provides emergency aid to Mongolia hit by harsh winter

ULAN BATOR, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador Shen Minjuan handed over funds and goods in aid to Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene here Monday for fighting extreme wintry weather.

"Our two countries have always helped each other in the face of disasters. China is ready to provide more support and assistance to Mongolia," Shen said at a handover ceremony in the State Palace of Mongolia.

This winter, Mongolia has been hit by a severe dzud, a Mongolian term to describe a severely cold winter when a large number of livestock die because the ground is frozen or covered by snow.

Expressing his sincere appreciation to China, Oyun-Erdene said that when Mongolia is hit by the dzud and herders face huge difficulties, China took the lead in extending a helping hand, standing once again as a model of good neighbor.

Noting that China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also provided aid to Mongolia, Oyun-Erdene said "this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties of the two countries. I hope the two countries and bilateral relations enjoy leapfrog development and the two peoples share happiness and prosperity."

As Mongolia has seen much more snow than usual this winter, over 80 percent of its territory has so far been blanketed with snow up to 100 cm thick, according to the country's weather monitoring agency.

About 3 million head of livestock have so far perished across Mongolia due to the dzud, according to the State Emergency Commission.